Short Summary

Apollo-17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Jack Schmitt on Wednesday (13 December) made their most exciting find of the mission when they discovered orange soil around a crater on the moon.

Description

Apollo-17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Jack Schmitt on Wednesday (13 December) made their most exciting find of the mission when they discovered orange soil around a crater on the moon.

The discovery, which was enthusiastically received by scientists as proof of more recent lunar volcanic activity than generally thought, was made on the second moonwalk.

The two astronauts spent some time preparing their lunar excursion module for the second outing on the moon's surface.

They unstowed sample bags and prepared them for cataloguing, rearranged gear and checked the Rover vehicle and its equipment.

Finding the orange soil climaxed a seven-and-a-half-hour excursion, with the astronauts visiting all the sites planned for investigation, collecting rock and soil samples, taking pictures and giving a running description of what they were seeing.

SYNOPSIS: A new area of the moon's surface ... and area that brought the discovery of orange soil around a crater, and the proof that there are volcanically created craters on the moon. The astronauts, seen here preparing for their second lunar excursion during which the orange soil was found, finally laid to rest the theory that the moon has been dead for three-thousand million years. The volcano soil is believed to be less than one-million years old. As the astronauts worked, they gave a running description of what they were doing and seeing.

Preparations for the second lunar excursion took some time, with sample bags to be unstowed and prepared for cataloguing, gear to be rearranged and the Rover vehicle to be checked.

Discovery of the orange soil came during their seven-and-a-half hour excursion that lasted a half-hour longer than expected. Earlier, the astronauts had to make do-it-yourself repairs to the fender of their Rover, to prevent being showered with dust thrown up by the rear wheel, as happened during the first lunar excursion. The two men visited all the sites planned for investigation, collecting rock and soil samples and taking pictures.